The Loneliness of the Long-Distance NY Sports Fan

Did you feel it, too?

I sensed a definite vibe in the air on Sunday morning, as I walked around Manhattan. People seemed shell-shocked. Downright sorrowful. Somehow even more disconnected than usual from one another.

Then I suddenly remembered why: The Yankees’ magical, Cinderella-like season was officially over. The good guys had lost game 7 the night before to the Houston Astros, 4-0, in a contest that really wasn’t even that close. The Yanks got three measly hits. After scoring one run in each of the previous three playoff games played in Houston during this series, this time they outdid themselves in futility and got shut out. And in what has become practically obligatory by now, Greg Bird got thrown out at home plate. On the bright side, Aaron Judge almost saved the day with yet another remarkable run-saving catch in right field. It will surely make MLB.com’s 2017 highlight reel. Judging (see what I did there — the guy is so great, he has become a verb) by the long faces, it may appear that Yankee Nation is headed for a long, cold, lonely winter.

Take solace, Bronx Bomber fans. Of all the 187 words I just typed above, three should stand out for you. Yes, I called the Yankees the good guys, no small feat for this franchise.

Of all the 2017 New York Yankees’ accomplishments, in a year of magnificent overachieving, one outcome stands out. The Yankees presented a remarkably likable team.

The Yankees? Likable? This is the same perennially dominant franchise of which it was said during the 1950s that rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel, because it seemed so bland, gray-flannel corporate. Then in the 1970s, the Reggie Jackson-Billy Martin-George Steinbrenner axis was so unruly and quarrelsome that it was known ignominiously as the Bronx Zoo.

In the very late 20th-century dynasty, you had the Derek Jeter-Mariano Rivera-Andy Pettitte-Jorge Posada group. Yes, it was likable as all get-out — but after a while, the whole “Core Four” deification deal got a bit wearying. By the time they all hung up their spikes, even the most ardent fans were ready to turn the page. And don’t even get me started about “A-Roid.” Alex Rodriguez’s retirement during the 2016 season enabled the Yankees to unveil a kid named Aaron Judge.

Then, when the team’s owners, the Steinbrenner family, opened the new Yankee Stadium in 2009, pundits wrote that the antiseptic place had all of the charm of a suburban mall — but yes, with a baseball stadium thrown in. (Naturally, when the Yankees captured the 2009 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, almost all was forgiven. At that moment.)

Now we have a new breed of what the wags are calling The Baby Bombers: the massive right fielder Aaron (“All rise ... ”) Judge, catcher Gary Sanchez (who, once he masters the art of catching every pitch thrown to him, can punch his ticket — as sportswriters like to say for some reason — to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown), the stoic first baseman Bird, rock-steady stopper Luis Severino and et, baby, al. We can’t forget about the coolest one of them all, a man of mystical powers and lineage simply known far and wide as Didi. He was born in the Netherlands (!) and raised in Curacao (!!). His father and brother also go by the name of Didi and he speaks four languages fluently, which is three (or four) more than I can claim. Didi’s finest accomplishment has been to play shortstop so well and charismatically that he has made the 2014 departure of Derek Jeter that much less painful.

So, have a nice, short, warm, happy winter, Yankees Nation. It seems that, given the influx of very youthful and extremely talented players on the roster, we have a lot to look forward to.

Oh, and the last detail: 2018 Opening Day will be on March 29, in Toronto. Can’t wait.